


The Descent

by oOAchilliaOo



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 19:36:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14268105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oOAchilliaOo/pseuds/oOAchilliaOo
Summary: Evelyn hates the deeproads. She hates the smell, the musty air, the darkspawn and most of all she hates the fact that she hasn’t had a proper bath in weeks. Unbeknownst to her a visitor is on his way from Skyhold one who intends to whisk her away to a secluded lake.Somehow when she returns to the abandoned thaig she’s not only cleaner but a great deal happier.





	The Descent

When she awoke, the first thing she saw was the roof of the cavern. Just like the day before, the day before that and the day before _that_. She hadn’t thought it was possible to actually _miss_ the sky, but she was starting to miss it almost as much as she had come to hate the Deep Roads.

 Almost.

The first thing she felt was the scratchy, slightly musty bedroll against the bare skin of her arms, and the unpleasant layer of dirt and grime clinging to her skin. They’d been down here for weeks, breathing nothing but stale air and using only a single bucket of stale water to clean themselves. She wanted a real bath almost as much as she wanted to see the sky and feel the wind on her face.

The first thing she heard was Dorian’s grumbling.

“Bloody Deep Roads. Bloody dwarves… Darkspawn… Spiders.”

“Quit grumbling, Dorian,” she groaned, throwing her pillow in his general direction.

“Don’t pretend that you’re _enjoying_ this,” he retorted, pulling the blanket off of her and destroying any hope she had of further sleep.

“I’m not,” she replied, glaring up at him “What I am enjoying is the possibility of cheaper lyrium if we can find something to trade to Orzammar across the way.”

He scoffed and dropped the blanket on her, which she knew was his way of having the last word in an argument he knew he couldn’t win. She couldn’t exactly blame him. They’d only come here to stop the quakes (which they had done, albeit with some slightly troubling discoveries along the way) and now they were stuck in a long abandoned thaig, building walkways to other abandoned areas in the hopes of being able to afford enough lyrium to keep both the Inquisition’s mages and templars happy.

But such were the things that she suffered for the Inquisition.

Fortunately, she wouldn’t have to suffer much longer. A contingent of Inquisition soldiers were due to arrive today, and with them guarding the dwarves building the walkway, she would at least be able to escape to the surface for a short while. 

When she was finally relieved of her duty, it was just as heavenly as she imagined. The breeze caressing her face as the final lift rocketed skyward was possibly the sweetest smelling thing she’d ever experienced.

Better still, when they reached the Inquisition camp, there was another surprise waiting for her.

“Inquisitor,” he greeted her softly as he met her in the middle of the camp, immediately falling into a stance she recognised as Templar ‘parade rest’. He almost always adopted it around her in public. Almost as if, if he _didn’t_ address her by her title and stand ten feet away from her with his hands clasped neatly behind his back, he might forget himself and do something to contribute to the gossip.

“Commander,” she replied in the same formal tone. “I’m surprised to see you here.” 

“I missed you.” A warm affectionate look softened his eyes in a way that made her want to leap into his arms all the more. 

“I’ve missed you too.” It was true, she _had_ missed him. Then again, she always missed him, just as he always missed her. There had to be something more to his visit than simply a desire to see her.

“You could’ve come down to visit,” she teased.

This was apparently exactly the wrong thing to say as a slightly grim expression crossed his face.

“It’s a er… lyrium mine.” His voice was hesitant and his hand rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t say I’ve ever been around raw lyrium but I hear the effects can be… unpleasant.”

She eyed him suspiciously for a moment. It was unusual for him to discuss his former addiction so openly, and while he might look serious, the mirth hadn’t entirely faded from his eyes.

“Really?” she said, suspiciously. “You’re playing the lyrium card?”

He grinned, all grimness fading from his face.  “Occasionally, it helps me achieve my goal,” he purred in a tone that made her knees weak.

“Your goal in this case being…?”

His grin turned downright sinful. “Come with me.”

He took her hand and led her away from the camp.

The journey took barely five minutes, during which he absolutely refused to give her even the slightest hint of where they were going. Then they broke through the tree line to find the most beautiful lake she had ever seen. Cool and clear and glittering in the afternoon sun, it was all she could do not to whoop with joy and dive right in.

Though, as it was just the two of them, why not indulge?

“Cullen, it’s perfect,” she breathed, reaching up to plant a quick kiss on his cheek before tearing off towards the water, stripping away the layers she wore as she went.

It was only a moment before she heard his rich chuckle reverberate through the clearing, echoed by the tell-tale clank of his armour being removed as he followed suit.

The water was as cool as it looked and utterly, perfectly refreshing. It would probably take a week to scrape all the dirt and grime of the Deep Roads away but she appreciated the opportunity to rid herself of at least the top layer.

She couldn’t exactly complain about the view either. Aside from the stunning beauty of the setting sun, there was also the stunning beauty of her commander swimming laps. 

It was, all things considered, a hell of sight.

Sleek and powerful, he pulled himself through the water with strong, practiced strokes, turning easily between laps and reminding her of just how strong he actually was.

“The water is perfect for swimming, you know,” he said a little while later as she pulled herself up onto the bank and began to brush out her now clean hair.

She didn’t answer, _couldn’t_. He was wading towards her from the middle of the lake, naked but for his underclothing, small droplets of water snaking their way down his torso, navigating defined abs and hard planes.

She only managed to tear her gaze from his chest to his eyes when he was stood before her, still half-submerged as his warm fingers crept up her leg.

“Join me,” he pleaded, his voice somehow soft and rough, and for one wild moment she thought that perhaps he might be some kind of siren. A stunningly beautiful creature promising everything she ever wanted if only she would slide from the lake’s edge and allow him to pull her to its depths.

“I can’t swim,” she said instead.

He blinked at her pronouncement, looking momentarily shocked as he released her.

“You… you can’t swim?” he asked her incredulously, and she had to resist the urge to laugh at the horrified expression that crossed his face.

“Actually, swimming lessons were a big part of circle life,” she replied dryly. “I just decided not to bother.”

“Ahh, of course.” Cullen grimaced, realising his mistake. Then he brightened. “Let me teach you. The water is not so deep and I can hold you.”

Now he was talking. After what she’d just witnessed, she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than to be held by her commander. She slid off the bank and into his waiting arms eagerly. Utterly unsurprisingly, she found that the warmth of his body contrasted beautifully with the coolness of the water.

However, the combination of their near nakedness and long separation meant that her swimming lesson was less about teaching her how to swim and more about finding innovative ways to kiss and caress each other under the water. She couldn’t say that she really minded.

Eventually though, the water became too cold to stay in and they were forced to crawl out of the water, wrapping themselves in thick woollen blankets to stave off the chill.

Unfortunately, there was one thing she hadn’t considered in her mad rush to get into the water, and that was the problem of her soaked underclothing. Cullen showed no such hesitation, quickly shucking his underwear and pulling his breeches on in their place.

“Do the same,” he shrugged when she asked him what he thought she should do.

“Won’t it feel weird?”

“Probably. But…” He pulled her close and bent to help pull her breeches on. “When you return to Skyhold there’ll be one less layer between us,” he murmured, his eyes molten pools of desire and his breath wonderfully warm against her legs;  extremely close to where she suddenly very desperately wanted him to be.

“Cullen,” she groaned, unable to stop herself from reaching out for him.

He turned away before she could make contact and began buckling on his armour. She couldn’t help but feel very disappointed, and her temperament was only made worse by his apparent good mood.

That is, until a pair of strong arms wound their way around her waist as she laced her coat.

“You aren’t meant to be loved on uncomfortable grass beside a freezing lake, my darling,” he purred in her ear. “You are meant to be loved on a large, comfortable bed where I can see to your pleasure properly.”

“I don’t mind,” she groaned, letting her head fall back onto his shoulder as she tried to press herself tighter against him.

“But I do.” He placed the softest kiss on her neck, which was sweet but _not enough._ “Besides, the anticipation will give you something else to think on. I daresay it may even bring you home sooner.”

“I’m sure it will.”

“Good. Because I fully intend to spread you across your glorious four poster bed. I intend to keep you there for a _long_ while and…” His lips grazed her pulse point. “I intend to make you _beg.”_  

She moaned as he spun her in his arms and finally _finally_ kissed her with all the passion that she knew he must be feeling as deeply as she was. She had absolutely no doubt that he could deliver on his promises. After all, it was nothing he hadn’t already achieved, and Maker, how she wished she could return to Skyhold right now.

“Soon, my love,” he breathed, resting his forehead against hers. “Come home to me soon.”

“I will.”

It was a promise she intended to keep, and if any of her companions knew the reason for her new-found determination they wisely chose not to comment on it. At the end of the day, they were all desperate to leave the Deep Roads behind them.

She just had a little more motivation than the rest.

 


End file.
